REVENUES collected from the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law were 65 percent higher in 2019, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
In a statement at the Senate, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said preliminary data for the first semester of 2019 showed that TRAIN revenues reached P55.6 billion.
Dominguez said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) exceeded their TRAIN targets by P1.8 billion and P1.7 billion, respectively.
“We are confident this growth will be sustained in the coming period through continuing administrative reforms and the completion of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program that will make our tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient. In both revenue agencies, we are automating processes and strengthening control measures against slippages,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez also said that in the first eight months of 2019, total revenue collections reached P2.09 trillion. This is 9.5 percent or P182.2 billion higher than the same period last year.
He also said that P1.9 trillion or 90 percent of the government’s total revenue collection came from tax collections.
Tax collection grew 9.8 percent in the first eight months of 2019. BIR collections rose by 10.6 percent, or an additional P138.7 billion in revenues over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, BOC collections grew by 7.2 percent or a P27.7-billion increase from the same period last year.
Dominguez also said nontax revenues rose by 7.4 percent in the first eight months of 2019.
He traced this to the higher collections of cash dividends remitted by the GOCCs, which reached another record amount of P61.3 billion as of August of this year alone.
Dominguez described 2018 as a banner year for the DOF. This was made possible by the 56 government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) remitted dividends amounting to P51.24 billion.
The Finance chief said this is the highest amount ever collected, representing a 41-percent increase from the P36.46 billion collected in 2017.
“This includes cash and dividend contributions retained by government financial institutions to boost their capital requirements. The improved remittances speak much of the improvements in corporate governance among the GOCCs,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez said tax effort in 2018 also rose to 14.7 percent of GDP. This is the highest rate in two decades and closely matches the regional average.
He said this was largely due to the passage of the TRAIN law and efforts to continue administrative reforms in revenue agencies.
Image credits: Department of Finance